Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss-Chapter 272: A Sea Called Shing

Three quiet days passed.

No attacks. No sightings. No monsters.

Just the steady creak of the Lady Rill gliding across the black, reflectionless water.

The light from the moss above them waxed and waned, providing just enough light to remind them they were somewhere between existence and a place forgotten by the world.

There were no threats, no disasters, and definitely no ominous storms.

And somehow, it was worse.

They all felt it.

The heaviness of silence that had been stretching on for too long.

It was like the calm before the storm. A pressure that made the silence feel dangerous. As if it wasn't peace, but anticipation in disguise.

Even though Ren had assured them that this was the entry cavern, and the exit cavern was somewhere else, it was hard to shake the feeling that something was coming for them.

And so, Zuzu guided the boat with careful hands.

Her eyes never stopped scanning the surface. Every faint ripple sent her heart jumping, only to be crushed again by the absence of anything real.

At this point, she had no idea whether to feel relieved that it was nothing, or to be even more tensed that something was definitely coming.

Elias sat near the middle of the ship, working on maintaining the signal beacon, not because they planned to use it, but because he needed something to do with his hands.

It wasn't as if there would be anyone to follow the beacon inside the Deep anyways. Well, anyone except more monsters. And they definitely didn't want that.

Lilith remained near the prow, her eyes half-lidded as she napped. Even as she slept, she looked like she was ready to tear anyone's head off.

Thorn sat near Zuzu, carving his figurines and showing them to her.

Then, he finally spoke, breaking the long silence that had been around them for hours.

"Maybe we scared them off."

Zuzu looked up. "What?"

Thorn gestured to the still, dark water around them. "Y'know. Maybe we killed the Deep's guardian early."

"You know, the monster Lilith killed before we entered. And now, the rest are too scared to show up. We made such a mess, they're down there just... floating in awkward silence."

Elias raised an eyebrow. "That or we're being watched."

Thorn shrugged. "Right. So awkward silence."

"Why does it always have to be one or the other with you?" Zuzu asked.

"If you knew me better," Thorn replied, "you'd know those are the only two speeds I operate on."

Ren sat at the rear of the boat, arms folded, watching everything.

He hadn't said much all morning, eyes scanning the ceiling, then the floor, then the faint patterns in the water.

But he listened. Always listening.

Zuzu sat beside Thorn eventually, rubbing her eyes. "You're not really scared, are you?"

"Me? Pfft. No. I'm just hungry enough to start hallucinating friendly sea monsters."

Zuzu chuckled.

After a pause, Thorn tilted his head.

"So tell me more about you Tidecallers. All that talk about war and piracy and whatever. Where did it start?"

Zuzu smiled softly. "You want to know about Shing."

Thorn blinked. "Who?"

"Shing. The ancestor of all Tidecallers."

"Oh, him."

Elias looked up from his work. Even Lilith turned slightly, one eye blinking open to watch them. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"He's the reason we exist. Why our people touch the water and it responds. Why we fight. Why we call the sea Shing when it moves with us."

"Wait." Thorn interrupted. "You guys named the Mare Dulce sea after him? But it doesn't rhyme with Shing. Am I the only one confused here?"

"No." Zuzu corrected. "We didn't name the sea after him. We named him after the sea. He wasn't born with a name. They say he earned one only after he broke the first tide."

"Broke it?"

Zuzu nodded. "There was a storm. Not a regular one. Something ancient and furious. The people of the islands were dying."

"It is said that he was gifted the Water Tree by the water god and became the first Tidecaller."

"And so, he went into the heart of the storm with nothing but his bare hands, and came out pulling the tide behind him like a beast on a leash."

Thorn leaned in, fascinated. "You're kidding."

"It was said his eyes burned with the memory of the sea's rage. And from then on, he walked on water. Spoke with whales. Slept in coral beds."

"He led his people across endless waters. Taught them to fight. To take what was theirs."

Elias raised an eyebrow. "Piracy."

Zuzu grinned. "We call it liberation."

Lilith spoke, her voice soft. "And the war rite?"

Zuzu nodded. "Shing said that the sea doesn't trust those who haven't bled. That to command the water, you must offer it proof."

"The tradition became a rite. Until a Tidecaller bleeds for something, a war, a cause, a loss, they are not truly one with the Mare Dulce."

"So, Dulce?" Thorn echoed. "If the sea is called Mare Dulce, how is Shing named after it?"

"Shing means sea. And Mare Dulce means sweet." Zuzu answered. "So, the Mare Dulce Shing means the Sweet Sea."

"That's what we call it. Shing called it that after he drank from it during his first crossing. Said it tasted like home."

She paused for a moment, her fingers lightly brushing the boat rail.

"Even today, when we touch the Mare Dulce, we can feel traces of him in it. Not magic. Not spirit. Just... presence. Like someone long gone still watching."

"That's why some believe he's the avatar of the water god."

Thorn was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Sounds like he was the first badass Tidecaller."

"He was more than that." Zuzu replied. "He was our reminder that the sea isn't just a place. It's a being. And we're its voice."

For the first time in days, a comfortable silence filled the air.

Lilith closed her eye, going back to her nap. Elias finished adjusting the beacon and leaned back, watching the cavern drift by.

For a while, no one spoke again.

Ren remained still, the corners of his mouth curling just slightly.

In his head, he remembered.

On his monitor.

The face.

The storm.

The man who had smiled as he stepped barefoot onto a wave and called the sea his child.

Ren smirked to himself.

How would the Tidecallers react when they realize that Shing was still alive? And they were feeling his actual presence in the Mare Dulce?

But he didn't say a word.

Not yet.